Investment for Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is an investment issue. Capital is needed to alleviate poverty, create jobs, accelerate the clean energy transition and allow for the development of much-needed infrastructure to provide goods and services for all. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an important source of that capital.
But investment does not come without risks. How can we ensure investments are made responsibly, without harming people, the environment or the local economy?
IISD works with governments and civil society to develop and improve legal and policy tools focusing on the critical linkage between investment and sustainable development. We look for and provide new approaches to ensure that investment law and policy advance environmentally sound investment that generates broad socioeconomic benefits. In particular, IISD experts examine how the rules and institutions that govern international investment flows can be improved to benefit developing countries.
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International Energy Charter Draft Model Investment Dispute Prevention and Management Protocol
IISD legal analysis of the draft Model Investment Dispute Prevention and Management Protocol developed by International Energy Charter Secretariat.
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Investment Treaty News (ITN), Volume 9, Issue 2, July 2018
Investment Treaty News (ITN) is IISD’s flagship journal on international investment law and policy.
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Tourist Trap: Is tourism's explosive growth hurting countries?
Countries are learning hard lessons as global tourism has almost doubled between 2000 and 2017. As the growth of global tourism continues to expand, international tourists arriving in developing countries are projected to grow at double the rate of advanced economies.
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Developing a Progressive Agenda for Reform of International Investment Law: Canadian perspectives
This report presents the ideas posited by various Canadian stakeholders in an IISD expert meeting on a progressive agenda on investment, held in Ottawa, Canada, June 13, 2018.
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Investment Facilitation: Making sense of concepts, discussions and processes
This background note provides an overview of discussions on investment at the global level in order to better understand and place the current discussions on investment facilitation.
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How the Energy Charter Treaty Could Have Costly Consequences for Governments and Climate Action
Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder explores the current status of the Energy Charter Treaty, and why now, more than ever, it deserves far more public attention and scrutiny.
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Could a U.S.–China Trade War Lead to a New Wave of Land Grabs?
A trade war could force China to search for new frontiers to secure its soybean demand and protect its supply chains, leading to another wave of so-called “land grabs.”
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Integrating Investor Obligations and Corporate Accountability Provisions in Trade and Investment Agreements
This report synthesizes the main points that emerged from the discussions in the expert meeting co-organized by IISD and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) in Versoix, Switzerland, January 11–12, 2018.
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Investment Treaty News (ITN), Volume 9, Issue 1, April 2018
Investment Treaty News (ITN) is IISD’s flagship journal on international investment law and policy.
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The Influential Amici in Philip Morris v. Uruguay: A new role for intergovernmental organizations in investment treaty arbitration?
The role of amicus curiae briefs in the outcome of the Philip Morris v. Uruguay dispute suggests that intergovernmental organizations could play a more useful role in investment treaty arbitration.
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